..For such alternative approaches to be successful, scientific rigor must be backed by public education and physician acceptance. Given the emergence of virulent and multidrug-resistant pathogens, time is not on our side...

Opinion paper: Quo vadis - EFSA?

G ReidLawson Health Research Institute, Canadian Research and Development Centre for Probiotics, London N6A 4V2 Ontario, CanadaBenef Microbes 2:177-81. 2011

..The recent rejection of a simple and quite bland claim related to vaginal health emphasises the travesty of this bureaucracy. Herein, the science fights back and counters the critique of EFSA...

..By following these recommendations and selecting an appropriate primary outcome, it is hoped that clinical data will emerge in the future that expands our knowledge of which probiotics benefits which subjects and by what mechanism...

The potential role for probiotic yogurt for people living with HIV/AIDS

Gregor ReidLawson Health Research Institute, Department of Microbiology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, CanadaGut Microbes 1:411-4. 2010

..Such outcomes have a scientific rationale, many social implications, and perhaps most importantly raise the question, why have developed countries not tried harder to bring nutrition-based probiotics to people in need?..

..The combination of probiotic L. rhamnosus GR-1 and L. fermentum RC-14 is not only safe for daily use in healthy women, but it can reduce colonization of the vagina by potential pathogenic bacteria and yeast...

..Based upon the evidence to date, future advances with single- and multiple-strain therapies are on the horizon for the management of a number of debilitating and even fatal conditions...

Urogenital infections in women: can probiotics help?

G ReidDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Western Ontario and Canadian Research and Development Centre for Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, CanadaPostgrad Med J 79:428-32. 2003

..The role of the intestinal, vaginal, and urethral flora and probiotics in urogenital health will be the focus of this review...

Probiotics for mother and child

Gregor ReidCanadian Research and Development Centre for Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Western Ontario, London, CanadaJ Clin Gastroenterol 38:S94-101. 2004

..It is now up to science to deliver the remedies, and to society to make sure that only proven products reach the marketplace and the people in most need...

Use of Lactobacillus to prevent infection by pathogenic bacteria

Gregor ReidCanadian Research and Development Centre for Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute, and Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Western Ontario, 268 Grosvenor Street, London, Ontario, N6A 4V2, CanadaMicrobes Infect 4:319-24. 2002

..Such critically important studies will require the medical science community to show a willingness to turn away from pharmaceutical remedies as the only solution to health and disease...

How science will help shape future clinical applications of probiotics

Gregor ReidCanadian Research and Development Centre for Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, CanadaClin Infect Dis 46:S62-6; discussion S144-51. 2008

..In time and with rigorous documentation, some probiotics will likely find an important place in medical practice...

Safe and efficacious probiotics: what are they?

Gregor ReidCanadian Research and Development Centre for Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute and Departments of Microbiology and Immunology and Surgery, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 4V2, CanadaTrends Microbiol 14:348-52. 2006

..In this Opinion article, recommendations are made based upon the current understanding of scientific, clinical and regulatory issues, with a special focus on safety...

..The mechanisms involved have not been completely resolved, but seem to include modulation of host immunity, reduction in pathogen ascension from the rectum, and interference with colonization and survival of pathogens...

Probiotic products in Canada with clinical evidence: what can gastroenterologists recommend?

..In due course, more clinically documented probiotics will emerge, some with therapeutic effects based on a better understanding of disease processes...

The potential for probiotics to prevent bacterial vaginosis and preterm labor

Gregor ReidCanadian Research and Development Centre for Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, CanadaAm J Obstet Gynecol 189:1202-8. 2003

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Targeting the vaginal microbiota with probiotics as a means to counteract infections

..This study confirms the potential efficacy of orally administered lactobacilli as a non-chemotherapeutic means to restore and maintain a normal urogenital flora, and shows that over 10(8) viable organisms per day is the required dose...

G ReidLawson Research Institute and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Western Ontario, CanadaAm J Clin Nutr 73:437S-443S. 2001

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Vaginal microbial diversity among postmenopausal women with and without hormone replacement therapy

Christine HeinemannCanadian Research and Development Centre for Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, CanadaCan J Microbiol 51:777-81. 2005

..In women not using HRTs, use of probiotics may be the only way to restore a nonpathogen-dominated flora...

Could probiotics be an option for treating and preventing urogenital infections?

G ReidLawson Health Research Institute and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, CanadaMedscape Womens Health 6:9. 2001

..Although few strains have been selected and targeted for urogenital applications, and none are currently available on the market, evidence shows that probiotic therapy has the potential to make an impact on women's health...

Ofloxacin for the treatment of urinary tract infections and biofilms in spinal cord injury

..reuteri RC-14. These studies help to provide insight into the clinical situation in which probiotic and indigenous vaginal lactobacilli can interfere with Gardnerella's presence and reduce the risk of bacterial vaginosis...

..If biomaterial properties can be enhanced to increase further the adsorptive concentration of drug, the risk of infections and recalcitrant biofilm formation could be significantly reduced in a highly susceptible patient population...

Effect of nutrient composition on the in vitro growth of urogenital lactobacilli and uropathogens

G ReidDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Western Ontario, London, CanadaCan J Microbiol 44:866-71. 1998

..These in vitro results provide a basis for testing nutritional supplements to alter the urogenital flora in an attempt to enhance restoration and maintenance of a normal disease-free state...

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli adhere to urinary catheters without using fimbriae

..Of the strains tested, few were resistant to the spermicidal agent nonoxynol-9. The data identify species within which strains may possess properties associated with maintenance of a healthy vaginal ecology...

..The diagnostic methods currently adopted in the evaluation of patient samples for BV are arguably Amsel criteria, and Nugent score that require microscopy and expert interpretation. These two methods are still subjective...

Rat PSP94 inhibits the growth and viability of the rat adenocarcinoma cell line PAIII in vitro

Peter A CadieuxDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, CanadaCancer Invest 24:246-55. 2006

..Rat PSP was shown to inhibit the growth and survival of PAIII cells in a dose-dependent manner with > 90 percent reductions in both observed. TUNEL and Annexin-V assays confirmed PAIII cell death to be via apoptosis...

In vitro evaluation of the viability of vaginal cells (VK2/E6E7) and probiotic Lactobacillus species in lemon juice

Gregory B GloorDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, CanadaPLoS ONE 5:e15406. 2010

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The potential role of probiotics in pediatric urology

Gregor ReidCanadian Research and Development Centre for Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute and Department of Microbiology, University of Western Ontario, London, CanadaJ Urol 168:1512-7. 2002

..quot; This review was done to evaluate the potential role that probiotic therapy may have in pediatric urology...

Complexity of vaginal microflora as analyzed by PCR denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis in a patient with recurrent bacterial vaginosis

..We aimed to test our hypothesis that symptoms and signs of BV do not necessarily indicate colonization by this organism, and often will not respond to standard metronidazole or clindamycin treatment...

Detection of Bifidobacterium species and Gardnerella vaginalis in the vagina using PCR and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE)

J P BurtonCanadian Research and Development Center for Probiotics, The Lawson Health Research Institute, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, CanadaLett Appl Microbiol 36:145-9. 2003

..Probiotic yogurt intake was associated with significant anti-inflammatory effects that paralleled the expansion of peripheral pool of putative T(reg) cells in IBD patients and with few effects in controls...

Pirkka V KirjavainenCanadian Research and Development Centre for Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, CanadaClin Vaccine Immunol 16:29-36. 2009

..Further studies of antigen-presenting-cell function and T-cell activation in recurrent UTI are called for...

..Previously, we have shown that probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 induces G-CSF production from bone marrow-derived macrophages. Whether this probiotic also induces G-CSF in intestinal mononuclear cells is unknown...

Peter A CadieuxDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, CanadaJ Urol 175:2331-5. 2006

..Using a rabbit model of UTI we examined the effects of triclosan impregnated stent segments on the growth and survival of Proteus mirabilis, a uropathogen commonly associated with device related UTI and encrustation...

African traditional fermented foods and probiotics

Kingsley C AnukamDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Western Ontario and Canadian Research and Development Centre for Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, CanadaJ Med Food 12:1177-84. 2009

..Given the recent upsurge in probiotic research, recommendations are made on studies that could be performed with African fermented foods and their strains, with a view to improving the health of people in sub-Saharan Africa...

Effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 supernatant and fetal sex on lipopolysaccharide-induced cytokine and prostaglandin-regulating enzymes in human placental trophoblast cells: implications for treatment of bacterial vaginosis and prevention of preterm

..The objective of the study was to determine the effect of fetal sex on the output of cytokines and prostaglandin-regulating enzymes in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and probiotic lactobacilli-treated placental trophoblast cells...

..This is the first study to show that a well-documented and proven human vaginal probiotic strain can express potent functional viral inhibitors, which may potentially lower the sexual transmission of HIV...